Is erotica a serious pursuit, or is it a testing ground or a place
to hone skills and a springboard to other more lucrative genres?

Wondering in Montana

Dear Wondering,

The answer to your question is both yes and no. Let me explain.

Literary erotica is a serious business. Publishers are, after all,
business owners and want (need) to make money. They want to produce
the highest possible quality product (i.e. erotic anthologies) they
can to ensure their customers (i.e. the readers) return to buy again.
If you are an aspiring author I encourage you to start now to think
about writing as a job. Sure you should love and enjoy writing. And
yes it is definitely an artistic endeavor, but ultimately writing is a
job and you need to treat it as such. You should approach your writing
career just like you would any other job you might have. After all,
you, the author, are a subcontractor for the publisher. Is that image
of writing as a career embedded into your mind? Great.

Now, Iíd like to be a heart surgeon, but Iím not trained to be
a doctor so no one will let me into the operating room no less allow
me to cut open someoneís chest and poke around in their heart. This
is probably a good thing. Unfortunately, the same isnít true about
writing. Anyone can write. And on a lot of levels thatís also a very
fortunate thing. I think everyone should write. I am not sure everyone
should be published or everything someone writes should be published,
but everyone should write. Thatís one of the best ways to learn to
writeóto do it. That and reading other well written works. Well,
actually studying other well written works for style, character, plot,
etcÖ

So yes, writing erotica is serious business.

Too often, new writers think they can write erotica as a stepping
stone even if they donít really know how to write. This is just a
naÔve, uninformed opinion. Erotica when done well consist of
a fully developed story that contains graphic sexual content. You
should be able to remove the sex and still have a story, if you cannot
you arenít writing literary erotica. If you cannot write a fully
developed story with multi-dimensional characters, adding sex isnít
going to make your story better. Not to mention writing interesting,
provocative, hot sex scenes is a skill of its own.

Writers should approach writing like another career. They should
practice it, study it, practice it some more, honing their skills and
talents. And then, once theyíve done this, they should start
submitting their work to editors.

Most erotica authors also write in other genres. There are
also a number of folks who write erotica almost exclusively. So if you
are going to write erotica do it because you have a passion for it,
not as a stepping stone. If you are going to step on it, make sure it
is a stone you are interested in being on and not just a means to an
ends.

Erotica can be a way to break into the queer writing word, but it isnít the only way to break into the queer writing world. If you donít
take writing erotica seriously as a business, as a real art
form, as serious writing, it will show in your prose and you will not
"break" into anything. You will be marked as a sloppy, hack
writer and dismissed. So my advice to you is if you donít like to
write about sex, donít write erotica. If you think the erotica genre
is "slumming it" please donít take up any space in our
neighborhood, stay uptown. If you are visiting the genre just to get a
few publishing credits before you move up, please show the hard
working erotica writers and editors respect due to them by producing
high quality work.

My mother once told me that if you donít love what you are doing
you shouldnít do it because it will show in the quality of your work
that you arenít enamored with the task. As always my mother was
correct. If something is worth doing, the saying goes, it is worth
doing well.

If there is an issue you would like me to address in "Two Girls
Kissing," please email it to me (Amie M. Evans)
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About the Author: Amie M. Evans is a widely
published creative nonfiction and literary erotica writer, experienced
workshop provider, and a retired burlesque and high-femme drag
performer. She is on the board of directors for Saints and Sinners
GLBT literary festival and graduated Magna cum Laude from the
University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Literature and is currently
working on her MLA at Harvard.
Read Amie M. Evans' full bio at the
Erotica Readers & Writers Association.